KEELY Hodgkinson shocked the world in 2021 when she won silver at the Tokyo Olympics at just 19, before going one better at Paris 2024 and bringing home gold.
She has emerged as the favourite to win BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2024 — here’s everything you need to know about the champion runner.
Who is Keely Hodgkinson?
Keely Hodgkinson was born in 2002 in Atherton, a town located near Wigan.
She hails from a running family, with her mother Rachel being a former member of athletic club Leigh Harriers.
Her father Dean has also run the London Marathon in the past.
Keely soon showed an aptitude for sport, joining her mum’s Leigh Harriers running club aged nine, while also swimming for the Howe Bridge Aces.
Aged 10, she made an impression at the British Schools Modern Biathlon Championships in London.
She finished second in the 500m running event and eighth in the swimming 50m — it was after this that her father encouraged her to focus full-time on running.
In 2015, when Keely was just 13, she had surgery to remove a tumour in her ear, which threatened to disrupt her running career.
The surgery was successful, but left her 95 per cent deaf in the affected ear — during her recovery she was unable to train for a significant period of time.
Aged 16 she won the England U18 and U20 800m, she also won the European U18 800m gold, breaking the championship record in the process.
By 2019, Keely had transitioned from indoor to outdoor events and won the British outdoor title aged 18, becoming the youngest to ever do so.
Her senior breakthrough came in 2021 after athletic had been affected by Covid postponements.
She became the youngest ever 800m European Indoor champion that year before building towards the Olympics.
Shock Olympic silver
At the Tokyo Olympics, Keely won a shock silver medal for Britain, beating Kelly Holmes‘ British record which had stood for 26 years.
She followed up with two golds in the Diamond League, two golds at the European Championships and two golds at the European Indoor Championships.
I wanted to prove not just to myself but to everyone else that I could be a multiple medallist
Keely Hodgkinson
After the Olympics, Keely spoke out about how she experienced depression after achieving her medal dream.
She told Team GB: “I’ve shown how mentally strong I can be. After Tokyo, the Olympic comedown is a real thing.
“That was quite tough, being so young and having so many aspects of my life change.
“I didn’t go to university anymore, I went full-time pro. I moved out, got my own place, all these changes you go through anyway.
“And then you think I’ve got to do what I did last year again, for a whole year, finding that motivation.
“I now know this time around that I’ll be better equipped to handle that. I also want to enjoy it, I’m back to really enjoying it again.
“If I get to that final and give it my all, I’ll be happy.
“After Tokyo, there was no pressure on me. The only thing I didn’t want was to be a one hit wonder, who just got it right then.
“I wanted to prove not just to myself but to everyone else that I could be a multiple medallist. Here we are, three years later, with a lot more medals so it’s good fun!”
Prior to her Olympic breakthrough, Keely was studying criminology at Leeds Beckett — she actually took a ‘gap year’ to compete at Tokyo but has since become a full time athlete.
Paris 2024 gold
Keely achieved the biggest milestone in her career so far by winning the 800m gold medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics on August 5th.
The British athlete dominated the final with a front-running performance.
She finished with a time of in 1:56.72, becoming only the third British woman to win Olympic gold in the event.
After the victory, Keely said: “I have really grown over the last couple of years, and this year was the year where you could really tell that I had tried to make that step up.”
SPOTY favourite
Following her Olympic triumph, Keely was named one of the six nominees for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award.
However, her successful season came to an abrupt end due to a minor injury.
On August 21st, she announced via social media that she would miss the rest of the 2024 athletics season, including the Diamond League finals in Brussels.
Throughout 2024, Keely had an impressive run, winning all nine of her 800m races.
Despite the injury setback, she expressed gratitude for achieving her goals for the year and looked forward to returning to the track in 2025.
Breaking Dame Kelly Holmes’ record
Keely’s 2021 silver medal broke the British 800m held by Dame Kelly Holmes since 1995.
She ran a time of 1:55.88, beating Holmes’ 1:56.21, shaving two seconds off her own personal best in the process.
Prior to her Paris 2024 triumph, Keely broke the record again at a Diamond League meet held at the Olympic Stadium, London on July 20, 2024.
She ran a time of 1:54.61, becoming the sixth fastest woman ever over the distance.
